Ferguson’s shipyard should not be a political plaything

Three years later, we had Nicola Sturgeon, his successor as first minister, and the yard’s new owner, Jim McColl, waving their hard hats in celebration at the launch of a ferry that wasn’t really a launch and wasn’t really a ferry.

And, two years after that, we had, God help us, former finance minister and self-styled fixer Derek McKay hurtling in front of the cameras, thumbs up, as the photographers’ flash bulbs lit up the newly-nationalised yard like a lightning storm in a horror film.

READ MORE: Ferguson Marine: ScotGov firm admits 'significant doubt' over future

There was no thumbs up from Neil Gray on Tuesday, however, when the grim-faced economy secretary told MSPs he could not, for now at least, commit the investment needed to secure the future of the yard once Scotland’s two newest but most benighted ferries are finally finished.

His statement was laden with commitments to protect the skilled jobs in Port Glasgow and assurances that he understands the economic importance of the yard to the communities around it.

He better because while 350 jobs will be risked if Ferguson’s, starved of investment, is forced to close, many more firms, workers and families across the towns of Inverclyde will feel the shuddering impact.

His announcement was only the latest blow for a workforce that has been pummelled like a political punchbag for years despite being entirely blameless for the errors, big, small and, at times, astonishing, that have beset the building of the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa.

The blame game will no doubt continue as bucks are passed between the former owners; CMAL, the commissioning quango; civil servants; and ministers.

The workforce has, however, only ever done exactly what was asked of it as flawed designs were ripped up, pieced together and ripped up again; as the new owners left in a furious tumult and the government took charge; and as ministers came and went in a flurry of warm words, airy promises and hand-wringing.

Meanwhile, the workers, our members, have been there day after day, ignoring the clamour while trying to finish these ferries and let their yard finally turn the page.

Of course, politicians are right to scrutinise the spending of taxpayers’ money and, of course, islanders, too long neglected by Central Belt policy-makers, deserved far better than this.

Sometimes in Scotland, however, difficulties too quickly become dramas and then crises and all the political high dudgeon only obscures the people and communities that matter most.

Yes, of course, MSPs must detail why budgets and deadlines burst so extravagantly, but there is more at stake than scoring points at First Minister’s Questions. The islanders need their ferries and Ferguson Marine deserves a future.

These are not, after all, the first public sector contracts to plunge into recriminations and inquiries.

From Holyrood itself to Edinburgh’s trams, costs have spiralled while in England, an arts centre in Manchester has just cost £242 million, twice the budget, while a reputed £92 billion was ploughed into HS2 before the rail links were suddenly scrapped by Rishi Sunak last month.

In that company, the relentless political and media focus on two ferries, however late and however expensive, sometimes seems excessive while £25 million of requested investment to modernise the yard does not.

It is certainly not nothing but, after all that has gone before, it does not seem much to pay for the infrastructure needed to secure future contracts for Ferguson Marine.

Contracts, incidentally, like the one for seven small CalMac ferries which the Scottish Government could, and should, award directly to Ferguson’s if, but surely when, the crucial investment arrives.

These ferries, the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, will one day sail out of the Clyde to serve Scotland’s islands.

Ferguson Marine, under effective management with a skilled workforce and retooled for a brighter future, must be allowed to build many more.

Louise Gilmour is GMB Scotland secretary